In Chunhua Courtyard, Madam Tao, who had watched the farce, poked Tao Yiran's forehead fiercely, and said with great regret, "If you had told me earlier that you liked him, your father would have tried his best to win you over. When the old man of the Marquis' Mansion was engaged to the Xin family, he didn't say that the one he was going to get was Tang Rong. But this happened."
"You don't know how badly that jerk from the Xin family said that. He almost said that you were a flirt and had no shame. Fortunately, I was thoughtful and put the blame on Tang Rong. Otherwise, the reputation of the entire Tao family would be ruined, and those people in the family would tear you to pieces."
Mrs. Tao was heartbroken when she talked about this matter. "Your deceased mother-in-law's dowry should have been handed over to you, but now 30% of it has been taken away, plus a farm."
"Forget about these, but it is not easy to get back the power of household management after handing it over. Even if it is your biological mother-in-law, it is not possible, let alone your second wife."
"Tang Mo just got another job. Did you know that the job was originally reserved for Tang Rong?"
The Beiya Army is filled with the children of nobles and it is a good place for families to make connections. Of course, not everyone can go there. Even Tang Gang cannot guarantee that he can squeeze in a second son.
Mrs. Tao became angrier and angrier as she thought about it. If they hadn't already consummated their marriage, she would have taken the girl home with her!
Tao Yiran was filled with grievances. She was extremely surprised when she saw that the groom was not Tang Mo. Then she was overjoyed. Finally, she lay down on the bed in a daze. Only when she woke up did she realize how scared she was.
"The prince said he would take care of this matter."
"The prince said he likes me."
Mrs. Tao did not look happy. She did not believe Tang Rong's excuses today, so how could anyone else believe them?
If you are interested, why didn't you propose earlier? Why did you agree to the marriage with the Xin family?
This was really a disgraceful thing to do. This noble and elegant prince didn't seem to be as capable as the outside world had said. It was really worrying. "What you have to do now is to act caring and aggrieved to win Tang Rong's heart, but be careful not to believe what he says."
Upon learning that Wang had arrived, Mrs. Tao perked up and began to deal with her, but she felt extremely tired.
Madam Xin checked the servants of Qiushi Courtyard for Xin An, and was relieved to see that none of them were cunning. She then changed the subject and said that they would set off to return to Huaijiang in seven days. "Your father is indispensable for many things. We are keeping you here for the sake of the overall situation. If one day you don't want to live here anymore, tell your mother and we, the Xin family, will come to pick you up together."
Xin An was very moved. She hugged her mother's arm and acted coquettishly for a while. Finally, she reminded that there must be no changes in the marriage between the Xin and Zhou families. After all, in the previous life, when the Xin family was implicated, the Zhou family helped them a lot. Otherwise, they would not have just lost their position as salt merchants and had their property confiscated.
"I heard that Mrs. Zhou is not as good as before after she was sick. I heard that the Imperial Hospital has a kind of Qi-nourishing Pill that is quite effective. I will ask my mother-in-law to buy some for me tomorrow and my mother will bring it back."
Madam Xin was not polite either. "That old lady is a good person. The Zhou family has been loyal and righteous for generations. Your father is very satisfied with this marriage. What's more important is that your brother is happy. Didn't you see him being very attentive to Miss Zhou like a playboy?"
"Just wait and see. We'll have to go out to choose gifts tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
Xin An smiled slightly. The days when he chatted with his mother were really something he missed.
After seeing off the people from the Xin and Tao families in the afternoon, Wang sat down to rest for a while before going to Chunrong Hall with Tang Gang to talk to the old lady. The old lady did not show up today, but she heard all the news. "This is the best result. There will be some discussion in the capital. As long as the three families are of the same opinion, it doesn't matter."
He raised his eyes to Wang and said, "The servants in the mansion need to be punished, so they won't talk too much."
Wang nodded in agreement, and then mentioned that Xin An would not be in charge of the household affairs for the time being, and even said that she did not want the 30% compensation, "She said that if she married the second son, she would live a good life with him, and she didn't want anything that was not hers."
Tang Gang said with satisfaction, "He is a man who knows the big picture."
Wang gritted her teeth and talked about Tang Rong's mother's dowry. "According to the rules, the prince should keep his mother's dowry after he gets married. I will start to take care of this matter after his marriage is settled. It's just..."
She looked embarrassed, and the old lady understood what she meant. Only Tang Gang looked at her with a scrutinizing look, "You embezzled it?"
Wang handed him a booklet and said, "You will know once you read it, my Lord."
It is not so easy to give up martial arts and pursue literature. In the past few years, Tang Gang had to make arrangements everywhere, but the Marquis's Mansion was poor and they had to use the dowry. Wang recorded every penny for him clearly.
Then she took out another booklet, which contained Tang Rong's extra expenses over the years. "The prince likes Hu ink, prefers Jinzhou rice paper, uses gray brushes, and loves Shuzhou folding fans the most. Last month, he spent five hundred taels to buy an ivory folding fan from Qiongzhou;"
"He also likes moon-colored brocade, moon-glowing yarn, mutton-fat jade, a topaz ring, and a red gold hollow sachet. The incense burned in the house must be cold incense from the Imperial Medical Bureau, which is worth a thousand gold coins. Some of these things were included in my sister's dowry, but most of them were purchased extra."
A noble and elegant young man also needs to eat, drink, defecate and urinate. If he uses them poorly, can he still be called a jade-like young man? He is built with mountains of gold and silver.
The more Tang Gang read, the more shocked he became. If it weren't for the records in the book, he wouldn't have known that he had spent so much of his deceased wife's dowry over the years, and he wouldn't have known that Tang Rong lived such a luxurious life.
Feeling guilty, his first thought was to pass on the blame, "How can you be a mother? You have to use these things and can't persuade me?"
Wang's heart sank, and she looked remorseful, "My Lord, there are always people in the capital who flatter the powerful and bully the weak. The princes of the Qing Marquisate, Chang Marquisate and other mansions all behave this way. If the prince of our Weiyuan Marquisate weakens, how will others view us?"
As she spoke, her eyes turned red and her voice was filled with tears. "It's hard to be a stepmother. I do my best to take care of the prince. I never said anything when the prince used these things. I always pressured Mo'er to spend less, but in the end, I was still blamed."
The old lady was impatient with her crying and knew that she did nothing wrong, but now the dowry was 60% less. How could she explain to Tang Rong?
If the news got out, how would people outside view Tang Gang, the Marquis of Weiyuan?
Wang cried and said that she dared not get involved in this matter anymore. "I have already counted out all the remaining dowry. I didn't even keep the compensation that the Marquis promised to give to the second daughter-in-law. I will give it to the Marquis later. You can talk to the prince yourself."
Tang Gang thought that this was the only way to go. Before he could finish his words, the old lady snorted coldly, "You asked for compensation in front of the Xin family, and they just said something polite, but you took the opportunity to refuse to give a penny. If this matter gets out, how can you gain a foothold in the court?"
Sometimes the old lady feels helpless about what to do with this useless and irresponsible son.
"The Marquis' Mansion is also at fault in this matter. They didn't want the dowry because they had concerns. So I'll just give you two thousand taels of silver from your private collection."
"Don't be reluctant. No one is saying anything right now. Who knows what will happen in the future? We can't let anyone get away with it. You've seen the Xin family's attitude. They're not pushovers."
Wang took a deep breath. It was more like her private property than theirs. Who could she support with Tang Gang's salary?
But after Tang Gang nodded, he pretended to be dead, and Wang had no choice but to agree.